Military officials have explained its takeover of the country by saying that it was going after criminals around the longtime leader, who was still introduced as president on Friday.

A man walks past a military tank parked on the side of a street in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Thursday.

(STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The monumental shake up comes after a succession struggle between Mugabe’s wife Grace Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa, a deputy whose firing last week set off the takeover and is now expected as the country’s next president.

Grace Mugabe, who was accused of trying to poison her rival with an ice cream cone earlier this year, was not present at the university ceremony.

Mugabe and the military are currently in negotiations, with the believed aim to settle on transitioning him out of power. A statement broadcast on state television Friday said that “significant progress” was being made.